Have you ever heard of homecoming? It's a tradition celebrated every year in the US. At homecoming, a school or university welcomes back former students or alumni(校友).{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It means, “coming home.”

    This is a time when everyone can get together.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}There are events that encourage school spirit all throughout homecoming week, which leads to the big day on Friday.

    A major activity that most students will take part in is choosing the homecoming king and queen.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} This is a group of boys and girls who represent (代表) school spirit. At the end of the week, students vote for a boy and a girl to be the king and the queen.

    Then it's time for the football game, the main event of homecoming week! {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Almost everyone from school goes to the game: students, parents, teachers, and alumni visitors. If they win, everyone is very happy.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Students dress up, and some might even bring a date to go with them. After the dance, homecoming is officially over, and everyone can't wait for next year!

A. The last event is the homecoming dance.

B. That is where the name comes from.

C. Students get to pick who will be on homecoming court early in the week.

D. The tradition began more than 100 years ago in the United States.

E. The football team faces a lot of pressure to do well for the big crowd.

F. Homecoming usually lasts a week and happens in the fall.

G. Homecoming week was not just about fun, but also a chance to try out new things.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项 （A 、B 、C  和 D ）中，选出最佳选项。

    In an ideal world, people would not test medicines on animals. Such experiments are stressful and sometimes painful for animals, and expensive and time-consuming for people. Yet animal experimentation is still needed to help bridge vast gaps in medical knowledge. That is why there are some 50 to 100 million animals used in research around the world each year.

    Europe, on the whole, has the world's most restrictive (严格的) laws on animal experiments. Even so，its scientists use some 12 million animals a year, most of them mice and rats, for medical research. Official statistics show that just 1.1 million animals are used in research in America each year. But that is misleading. The American authorities do not think mice and rats are worth counting and, as these are the most common laboratory animals, the true figure is much higher. Japan and China have even less comprehensive (全面的) data than America.

    Now Europe is reforming the rules governing animal experiments by restricting the number of animals used in labs. Alternatives to animal testing，such as using human tissue or computer models, are now strongly recommended. In addition, sharing all research results freely should help to reduce the number of animals for scientific use. At present, scientists often share only the results of successful experiments. If their findings do not fit the hypothesis (假设) being tested, the work never sees the light of day. This practice means wasting time, money, and animals' lives in endlessly repeating the failed experiments.

    Animal experimentation has taught humanity a great deal and saved countless lives. It needs to continue，even if that means animals sometimes suffer. Europe's new measures should eventually both reduce the number of animals used in experiments and improve the way in which scientific research is conducted.

                                                                                                Whizzfizzing Festival

    One of the “Home Counties” to the north and west of London, Buckinghamshire is known for the rolling Chiltern Hills, its pretty villages, and the much-loved children's author Roald Dahl.

    The writer who penned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, Matilda and The Big Friendly Giant is the i9nspiration for the Whizzfizzing Festival – which will transform the market-town of Aylesbury into all kinds of music, colour and fun on Saturday, 1 July.

    Formerly known as The Roald Dahl Festival, this year's event will celebrate a broad range of children's films and bring to life some of its best-loved characters – from Alice in Wonderland and the Gruffala to The Big Friendly Giant and Harry Potter.

    Things to see and do

    The fun and festivals start at 11 a.m. with a colourful children's parade. More than 650 local school children and teachers, many in fancy dress, will march through the town carrying giant carnival puppets（木偶）, with thousands of audiences lining the streets to watch.

    The parade will be followed with a range of child-friendly activities and workshops held in venues across the town.

    Don't be late for the Mad Hatters Tea Party in the Bucks County Museum, catch a splendid screening of a Roald Dahl movie in the Old        Court House, and watch leading children's authors, including Julian Clary, give readings in the Market Square.

    CBeebies' children's chef Katy Ashworth will once again be cooking up a storm with her inter-active

    Concoction Kitchen, located outside Hale Leys Shopping Centre. Little chefs will have lots of opportunities to get involved with preparing, cooking – and best of all, tasting – Katy's fabulous recipes.

    With hands-on arts and crafts workshops, storytelling sessions, live music, a fancy dress competition, street theatre and more, there is something for everyone.

    For more information, visit: http://www.aylesburyvaledc .gov.uk/cylesbury-whizzfizzing- festival-inspired- roald-dahl

    As is known to us, Washington University in St. Louis became the first college in the United States to ban (禁止) selling bottled water in 2009. Since then, more than a dozen small colleges and schools have done the same. The ban isn't because the schools don't want students to have easy access to water. Instead, the goal is to encourage students to bring reusable bottles to save money and, more importantly, to save the environment.

    Many people believe that producing and using bottled water not only wastes money but also harms the environment. They say that bottled water is unnecessary because public water supplies in the U.S. are among the best in the world. These people believe that water fountains and reusable bottles with easy access to filling stations are a better choice.

    But the makers of bottled water argue that plastic bottles make up a small portion of the nation's total waste. They say it's unfair to single out (单独挑出) their product when so many other items are packaged in plastic containers, and what's more, water is a healthy choice compared to some sodas and juices that are also sold at school.

    What do you think: Should sales of bottled water be banned from schools? We want to hear your opinion. Write a 200-word response. Send it to tfkasks4you@timeforkids.com. Your response may be published in a future issue of Time For Kids. Please include your grade level and contact information for your parent or teacher if you want your response to be published. The deadline (截止时间) for responding is August 31, 2012.

    To be honest, I do not know Sybrina Fulton. Nor can I claim to understand the depth of her pain. Yet, we share a deep connection. A common feature experienced by those women who face the challenge of raising a Black male child in a nation that far too often views Black male bodies through fear. You see, Ms. Fulton is living my nightmare (噩梦). A constant worry that has stayed in the back of my mind since the birth of my eldest son, some sixteen years ago.

    Through the years, I have witnessed the world's reaction to my son evolve as he has grown from a small boy to a young man. In his early years, his easy smile and lovable character were nothing less than magnetic (有磁性的). Complete strangers would approach him in the street, draw him into conversation, and find themselves easily struck by his lively spirit. Even at that time I worried, how would my son react when in the years to come some of those who found themselves so impressed by this cute, intelligent boy, might grasp their purse tighter as he walked by.

    Over the years I have sought to protect his spirit from the hurt that comes from undeserved hatred. I have also sought to arm him with the knowledge that could one day save his life. He knows, for example, that if he is ever pulled over by the police, that he is to keep both hands on the wheel at all times and only reach for his license when the officer is specifically observing his actions. He knows, even in less threatening situations, that rough play and loud interactions with his buddies of any color will be viewed very differently when he does it, than when his white friends display the very same behavior. Still, the truth of the matter is, no amount of advice or voiceless behavior overcomes the physical, immovable fact of the color of his skin. His intelligence, easy smile, and lovable character won't protect him from unfounded assumptions of criminality.

    What makes the Trayvon Martin travesty (歪曲) of justice so painful to me, personally, is the knowledge that Trayvon's mother loved her baby no less than I love mine. The various pictures of moments throughout a happy childhood that have now found a home on nationwide newscasts provides clear evidence of that. Yet no amount of love and care, and no words of advice could have saved her son from the cruel killing he faced at the hands of a self-appointed neighborhood watch-dog. And perhaps even worse, nothing could have prepared her for the inhuman way her son has been treated by officials even in death. To think for three long days, his parents searched for him while officials failed to inform them of his fate and instead, performed drug and alcohol tests on his lifeless body, while failing to do the same for his attacker—the only one of the two who indeed had a criminal past is frankly, unforgivable. To know that the words of her son's killer were given more weight than eye-witnesses and taped evidence of her child's screams and eventual death must be heartbreaking. But to also have to live with the fact that his attacker still breathes free while her son lays buried underground is certainly more than any sorrowful parent should have to endure (忍受).

    It is this type of pain that is not unfamiliar to the Black experience in America, for this is the Black mothers' burden. A burden we have endured for centuries. Yet, there is still the rightful expectation, that in modern-day America, the wheels of justice would not be stopped.

    So today, it is my hope that Trayvon's mother, father, family and friends can take some comfort in the fact that millions of Americans of every color stand with them in their fight for justice. This is a burden no family should have to endure alone.

    We will not give up. We will not forget. We will continue the fight until justice is done.

    I once complained to my friend Mike, "I often cycle two miles from my house to the town center but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route." He replied, "You mean fortunately." He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.

    My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to complain as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally I comfort myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationary exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.

    Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a university degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, "The character cannot be developed with ease. Only through experiences of suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved."

    One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity. From time to time we all face hardships，problems，accidents and difficulties. Some are of our making but many are no fault of our own. While we cannot choose adversity, we can choose our attitude towards it.

    Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs cut off following a flying accident. He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aviators in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans. He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, "Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't do this or that. That's nonsense. Make up your mind, and you'll never use crutches or a stick, and then have a go at everything. Go to school, and join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible."

    The biographies of great people are full of examples of how they took steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become depressed. They chose their attitude. They chose to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won. Nevertheless, there is still the problem of how you change your attitude towards adversity.